I received an overwhelming response to the post on March 17, 2014 concerning the European Unions moves to make Sustainability / CSR reporting mandatory. For those of you that have not read my original post you can take a look here:

A question that came up a lot was whether or not this would apply to US companies operating in the European Union with more than 500 employees. This is a great question and although I had heard through the grapevine that it would apply, I did not feel certain enough to state that fact because I could not find an official statement or clause that I had found in draft directives. I had only heard this from other practitioners, in other articles etc that it would impact US companies.

Then I received an email from Carly Greenberg and Tim Smith at Boston Trust thanking me for the post, and calling my post “informative”. I am very fond of Tim Smith and a real fan of his tremendous work in driving SRI over his entire 40+ year career with ICCR and now with Walden Asset Management – I sometimes refer to him as one of the Godfathers (Hey – I’m Italian and from NY so.. forgive me ) of SRI so I was very humbled to get this email and I knew that I had to find the answer to this question. I consider myself lucky that over my relatively short career in Sustainability (14 years) Tim and I have crossed paths, shared panels, and discussed issues in some depth. He has truly impacted the field more than almost anyone (and continues to today), and has impacted my career / thoughts etc dramatically. (Thanks Tim!)

EUREKA! – I did find the copy of the draft directive itself and after reading through it with a fine toothed comb I came across a clause which I believe to be the smoking gun which was under section 3 “LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL” (the bold part is the important part):

The Accounting Directives regulate the information provided in the financial statements of all limited liability companies which are incorporated under the law of a Member State or European Economic Area (EEA). As Article 4(5) of the Transparency Directive refers to Article 46 of the Fourth Directive and to Article 36 of the Seventh Directive, the amendements proposed to these provisions will also cover companies listed on EU regulated markets even if they are registered in a third country.

Based on this clause, any company that trades on at least one of the many stock exchanges in the European Union (most global companies) which you can see in this list taken from a Wikipedia article number over 100+:

If you are a publicly traded company and trade on any of the exchanges above you will be affected by this directive.

Also, it is interesting to see that NYSE and NASDAQ both are represented in some ways on this list above. For example NYSE and Euronext are owned by the same parent company – The IntercontinentalExchange Group (ICE). Euronext has connections to the markets in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the UK.

The NASDAQ OMX seems to have its name (both OMX and NASDAQ) associated with several exchanges above including Armenia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Sweden etc.

I’m not sure how these connections tie into this directive, but I think its interesting to point them out as the world becomes more global and exchanges become truly global how do regulations like the EU directive, with the clause above effect these global exchanges? And what does that mean going forward?

It gets even more interesting when you look at the fact that the NYSE and the NASDAQ are both signatories of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSEI): http://www.sseinitiative.org/.

The initiative comes from a collaboration between PRI, UNEP, UNCTAD, and UNGC and many of the partners in the initiative already have listing requirements for Sustainability reporting (ex, JSE , BM&F Bovespa).

To become a partner exchange SSEI asks that the exchange publicly endorses the following statement:

We voluntarily commit, through dialogue with investors, companies and regulators, to promoting long term sustainable investment and improved environmental, social and corporate governance disclosure and performance among companies listed on our exchange.

BREAKING NEWS out of Boston (Mar 26th, 2014) – as I write this article CERES, BlackRock (the largest asset manager in the world) and other major institutional investors released their recommendations for listing requirements on exchanges titled:

These standards will be sent directly to the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE – the trade group for exchanges) who has launched a Sustainability Working Group to discuss and debate sustainability disclosure issues with member exchanges (virtually all global exchanges in the world).

Here’s what NASDAQ had to say:

“We need a joint solution that will help bring more consistent and comparable information to all markets, and will not leave any one exchange at a competitive disadvantage for taking leadership in this space,” NASDAQ OMX CEO Robert Greifeld said, speaking of the sustainability disclosure engagement process. NASDAQ OMX and Ceres have been working together for almost two years on this issue.

NASDAQ OMX Vice Chairman Meyer “Sandy” Frucher stressed, “What we hope comes out of this process is strong support by exchanges around the globe to move together to create a more uniform approach to sustainability reporting.

“We committed last year, at the urging of institutional investors within Ceres’ Investor Network on Climate Risk, to provide thought leadership for our listed companies on sustainability reporting guidance,” Frucher continued. “To provide us with greater clarity on what investors want in such guidance, INCR, with support from the Principles for Responsible Investment, launched a global consultation among investors, and presented us with a proposal that we are now discussing with other exchanges.”

Here’s what BlackRock had to say:

“Cross border collaboration by stock exchanges will help shift public companies towards more comparable and meaningful disclosure of ESG (environmental, social and governance) risk factors,” said Gwen Le Berre, Vice President of Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with $4.3 trillion in assets under management. “This will enable investors to more accurately value companies and make better informed investment decisions.”

Here is the full release which has many other quotes from very important people in very important places demonstrating their commitment to moving this forward:

So when you take all of this into account, why are you still reading this article, and why haven’t you already started working with me to get started on Sustainability reporting? 😉

That was a joke of course, but seriously – one way or another you will be affected – so get in front of these coming regulations/mandates because if you are not, you will be scrambling to get in compliance, and in a position of weakness compared to any competitors that are already doing it. If you are already reporting, kudos to you, and you will be in a position of strength against your competitors – you have strategically positioned yourself well in the new global environment. Just make sure you are covering all your bases and your reporting is in-line with whats expected and global standards.

This is not to mention the additional pressures for disclosure and transparency coming from:

Key Customers

Employees

Suppliers

NGOs

Investors

Government

Community

and other Stakeholders

Which I could write a whole additional book about.

I think its clear to see that the question is not SHOULD you start reporting, its HOW will you get started as quickly as possible. Your window of opportunity to be prepared is closing, and the time is now to move on this if you have been questioning whether or not to get started.

At G&A we continue to watch these trends shaping the global markets. We position ourselves at the intersection of corporations and the capital market. We monitor the groups that shaping corporate valuation and reputation in today’s modern global marketplace. If you have any questions or would like to talk more about these topics please reach out to me at lcoppola@ga-institute.com.

Stay Tuned to the World Bank – it’s a Pioneer in G4 Sustainability Reporting!

The World Bank, composed of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world.
Since its inception in 1944, the World Bank has expanded from a single institution to a closely associated group of five development institutions.

Their mission evolved from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) as facilitator of post-war reconstruction and development to the present-day mandate of worldwide poverty alleviation in close coordination with their affiliate, the International Development Association, and other members of the World Bank Group: the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Today the institution has a staff of engineers, financial analysts, economists, sector experts, public policy experts, and social scientists.

The newly-endorsed goals of the Bank are to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity by fostering growth at the bottom 40 percent of every country. To accomplish this, the World Bank — operating in over 130 countries around the world — offers its members low interest loans, interest-free credits, and grants as well as a wealth of technical assistance and knowledge sharing.

The World Bank sets an example for its clients and partners in reporting and public accountability.

So it is fitting that one of the first institutions to embrace the new GRI G4 (fourth generation) guidelines would be the World Bank. Spearheading the effort is Monika Kumar, the Bank’s sustainability coordinator. When the report landed on our platform, we reached out to Monika to ask her about the effort – here are highlights of our conversation.

G&A Institute: Monika, congratulations on being one of the first U.S. based institutions to embrace G4 for reporting. What was the experience like, moving from G3.1?

Monika Kumar: We started with the premise that the G4 would be similar to the G3.1, simply with a few additional indicators, but were pleasantly surprised. The emphasis on materiality was something that we had to understand better, and inform our internal stakeholders about. In our preparation, we reviewed each and every one of the Aspects and Indicators to assess the relevance to the World Bank, which falls within this unique mix of a public-financial-development institution. We also had to ensure to link content material to the Bank as a development institution, such as how we address issues of food security in our client countries, with the appropriate GRI indicators.

G&A: How long has the World Bank been reporting?

MK: Our first report was published in 2005, covering our 2004 fiscal year. We began first using G3 and then shifted to G3.1 for our Content Index and over time included the Financial Services and the Public Agencies Sector Supplements. In 2008, we moved to an on-line platform, with a standalone GRI index report where we addressed every GRI indicator, explaining inapplicable indicators where needed. So, every year, we’ve learned from our experience – trying to make our reporting process more efficient and the report more reader friendly.

G&A: Talk about your Materiality process – what is involved?

MK: G4 required that we dedicate a considerable amount of time to carrying out a materiality assessment and disclose that methodology in the specific indicator responses (G4-19-21).

We had to develop a methodology that applied to our development-oriented business model, incorporated feedback from our myriad stakeholder groups (clients, civil society, investors, to name a few), and simultaneously allowed us to determine the sustainability impact of the aspect considered.

We looked at the AA 1000 five-step process, ISO 14001, and the Natural Step process, and then created our own approach to meet our specific needs – one that looks at financial and reputational risk, stakeholder concern, and sustainability impact. This is the first time that we applied the approach and since G4 is so new, we really had no good examples to follow. You will note we have a simplified version of the methodology on our website currently. We hope next year to validate the process and upload a more robust response.

G&A: What’s the worldview of the institution as you prepare your “progress report” for the user base?

MK: Lots of exciting things are happening at the Bank right now. We are undergoing a period of change, one that would help us achieve the two goals we have set: reducing extreme poverty globally to 3 percent by 2030, and boosting incomes for the bottom 40 of the population in developing countries. President Kim has made it clear that sustainability frames these two goals – a sustainable path of development and poverty reduction would be one that: (i) manages the resources of our planet for future generations, (ii) ensures social inclusion, and (iii) adopts fiscally responsible policies that limit future debt burden.

In this effort, addressing climate change is key. We are currently working with 130 countries to take action on climate change—helping cities to adopt green growth strategies and develop resilience to climate change, developing climate-smart agricultural practices, finding innovative ways to improve both energy efficiency and the performance of renewable energies, and assisting governments to reduce fossil fuel subsidies and put in place policies that will eventually lead to a stable price on carbon.

A lot is happening, but I’m really excited that we began tracking the GHG footprint for specific sectors including energy and forestry within our lending portfolio. Within the next three years we expect to be publishing this information – as currently we only report on our corporate carbon footprint – in both our annual sustainability review and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). We are working towards more comprehensive reporting.

This is important, not just for us being a model of a sustainable institution, but also for our stakeholders, especially sustainable and responsible investors who invest in our “green bonds,” that benefit projects related to climate change.

We are proud to say that the World Bank helped start the development of the quickly-expanding green bond market – the program recently reached a milestone of USD 4 billion in issuance, helping create and develop a market that raises funds to support climate activities – one that will support future climate finance.

I’ll stop there and urge the reader to read more about the Bank’s efforts to achieve its ambitious goals in the Sustainability Review online (http://crinfo.worldbank.org).

G&A: Thank you Monika. We will be watching as other financial sector institutions transition to G4 guidelines over the next two years. The World Bank example will be helpful to the financial sector partners, we’re sure.

Footnote: As we prepared this blog post, news came from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) that as of November 4, 2013, 84 organizations had signed on to the new initiative – the G4 Pioneers Program. Organizational Stakeholders (OS), organizations that support the GRI, commit to producing a G4 report in their next (reporting) cycle. The program is interactive, and designed to be knowledge-sharing (webinars, focus groups). We will be following the Pioneers and will bring you updates on the program’s progress.

In April, the European Commission (EC) acted on a proposal calling for new rules – officially, to implement, for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council to mandate disclosure of non-financial information and diversity information by large companies (500+employees).

The proposal (prepared by a working group) calls for mandating publication of non-financial information to be included in annual and consolidated financial statements and related reports.

G&A Institute’s Q&A With Barbara Kimmel – Trust Across America / Trust Around the World

We shared news in our May issue about TrustAcross America –now named Trust Around the World. Readers were interested in learning more about the organization and its activities. Here is our interview with co-founder Barbara Kimmel. Continue reading →

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